Delayed Start
by Kyogera
Summary: The Ministry of Magic has made a mistake, and a young lady named Aileen never gets her acceptance letter from Hogwarts. Five years later, they catch the mistake, and are unsure what to do. As the muggle saying goes: Better late than never!
1. It's gotta be a hoax!

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything except the plot and Aileen--oh, and Charlie too. He's such a lil' cutie! **

**A/N: This is my first ever fanfic. Please tell me what you think. Thanks! **

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**Delayed Start: 1. It's gotta be a hoax!**

Aileen Curter walked down her driveway to the mailbox, hoping that the mailman had left her something; she was bored out of her mind. She opened the rusty old box, and saw a few letters crammed into the back. The fifteen-year-old pulled out the mail, then slammed the mailbox's door shut. She spun around on her heel and started walking back towards the house, looking at the letters in her hand as she did so.

"Bills, junk, school (which is junk), more bills, -YAHH!" she cried, reacting to a tickle on her back, which made her drop everything she was carrying.

"_Charlie!" _she hissed. "_Why did you do that?"_

_"Sorry, mate."_ spoke Charlie, her pet snake, slithering up to her ear. _"Didn't mean to make you jump."_

_"Well you did! And look at what happened!" _she snapped.

_"I said sorry..." _Charlie replied, hiding back into her collar.

Aileen sighed. _"Just don't do it again, okay?"_

_"Okay." _She could feel him slide back into her jacket, and she started to pick up everything she dropped. Her hands paused over a yellowish envelope that she hadn't noticed before. She picked it up, and turned it over slowly. There was an emblem with a large capital "H" in the center, which was kind of funny looking, but what was plain old weird about it was the mailing address.

_Aileen Curter  
__The finished room in the basement  
__21 Coune Road  
__London, England_

_What?_ She thought. _Nobody besides my parents know where my room is, not even my friends! This doesn't make any sense._ Aileen started to open the envelope's seal, but was stopped my her mother.

"Aileen!" her mother called.

"Yes Mom?"

"Did you get the mail yet?"

"Oh - yes! I'm bringing it up right now!" Aileen quickly picked up the last few letters and ran to the house, closing the door behind her. She passed all the letters to her mother except the one that was written to her, and flopped down onto the couch with it.

"What's that?" her mother asked.

"Some weird letter." she replied.

"What does it say?"

"I dunno. Haven't opened it yet."

"Well," said her mother, flopping down on the couch next to her, "How about opening it now?"

Aileen nodded, and opened the envelope. She pulled out the letter, and put it between her mother and herself, so they could both see it. What they read shocked them.

_Dear Aileen Curter,_

_After fixing a five-year-old mistake found in the records in the Ministry of Magic headquarters, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. However, the mistake has caused you to lose five years of schooling, and has caused quite some trouble at the MInistry. Everything that we propose to do for you would not be able to be covered in a letter, so I will come at 8 o'clock sharp tonight to explain everything to you and your family._

_Congratulations on your acceptance,  
__Albus Dumbledore  
__Headmaster of Hogwarts_

Aileen just stared at her mother, who was doing the same thing to her. "It's gotta be a hoax." they said in unison.

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**A/N: I know that it's short, but I'm not sure if I should continue. Please tell me if I should or not!**

_that's how it could have happened._

_Or,  
__It could have happened like this:_

**A/N: I want at least five reviews before I'll go to the next chapter.**

_But this is what really happened:_

**A/N: So, what do ya think? I know it's short, but that's where I felt would be the best place to stop it. I actually don't care if you think that I should continue or not, because I'm going to anyway. If you like it, great! I'll update soon. If you don't like it, then what the heck are you doing still reading this thing? Find something else to do with your time! I'd love some reviews, flames are more than welcome. See ya soon (for those who want to keep reading, that is)! **


	2. Enter Dumbledore

**Disclaimer: See last chapter. As a matter of fact, I could say I owned it. There's really nothing anyone could do about it. Nobody could sue me, they don't know who I am! Haha. Of course, I wouldn't get any money either. Just my luck. Whatever. I don't own it, so there.**

**A/N: I WAS hoping to get at least ONE review. I probably scared all the reviewers away. WAAAAAAA! **

**Oh, yes, for those who are confused, something in plain italics represents a** _letter, notice, or memory_**, for the most part anyway. Italics in quotation marks represent **_"parseltongue"_**. Italics that are underlined represents a characters **_thought._** Hopefully this will get rid of any earlier confusion.**

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**Delayed Start: 2. Enter Dumbledore!**

Aileen was in disbelief. It had to be fake! Her friends couldn't do it, they didn't know where her room was. Remembering the shocked look on her mother's face, Aileen believed that she would not have done it either. Aileen's father wouldn't do it, he was too serious to make a joke like that. So, who could have done it?

It was 7:30 as she pondered over it in a big, comfortable seat in the study, looking deeply into the flames of the fireplace. She knew that no one would come, but why then was she getting more and more nervous the closer the clock's hand moved to eight? Charlie must have felt her worry, because he started to comfort her.

_"Ai, what's the matter?" _he asked, curled up on Aileen's lap.

_"Oh, Charlie, I just can't be sure. What if this Dumbledore guy actually comes? What if this is actually real? I can't find a reason why anyone would do this." _she sighed.

_"So what if he does come? So what if it is real? What does it really matter? How would that be bad?" _

_"Look at this letter!" she cried. "What do you think? 'Ministry of Magic'? 'Hogwarts'? Who would name a school HOGWARTS, for Pete sake?"_ she began to shake.

_"Well, somebody did apparently _(**A/N: J.K. Rowling, that's who**)._ And anyway, whatever happens, I'll be here, helping you through it."_

Aileen seemed to calm down a bit. _"Thanks, Charlie." _she stroked his little white head, and neither of them said anything for quite some time. Aileen heard the door open and close, her father coming home from work. She heard him talk to her mother about the tough day of work he had, and ask where she was.

"I'm in the study, Dad." Aileen called out, opening a pocket in her inner jacket for Charlie to slip into before he came in.

She heard his footsteps come up behind her then saw him pass her as he went to his chair. He sat down with a long, exaggerated sigh, eyes closed, then opened them to look at Aileen. "How was work today?" she asked, knowing the answer.

"Fine, fine. Mr. Markan was quite demanding today, but it was not much worse than normal. How was yours? I hear you got a letter today concerning an acceptance to a prestigious school?"

"Ummmm, something like that," she whispered softly, handing him the letter. He opened it and read it, then raised an eyebrow towards her. She buried herself deeper in her chair and shrugged.

"Odd..." her father said slowly. "Very odd indeed." He handed the letter back to her, and took a deep breath, indicating a long lecture-like talk. "Aileen, we Curter's ha-"

_KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK_

Aileen looked at the clock, it was 8 o'clock exactly. She jumped up from the chair towards the door, but her mother beat her to it, and opened the door before her.

"Hello," said an older, male voice, "I am Professor Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I explained in my letter that I would be arriving tonight. May I come in?"

Aileen's mother looked a bit shocked at first, but regained her composure quickly. "O-of course, Professor, please come in," she said, and motioned towards the couch. "Won't you sit down?"

"Ah, yes, thank you." he walked through the door, and Aileen finally got a good look at him. He was wearing outlandish robes and what looked like a purple nightcap for a hat, which matched the robe perfectly. He was tall and thin and old, with lines of wisdom on his face. His eyes had a mischievous laughter about them, and a pair of crescent shaped glasses found themselves to be sitting on his long nose. He took the offered seat, and the whole family came in to sit across from him.

"Ahh, you must be Aileen," he said, offering his hand.

"Umm, yes, I am pleased to meet you." she replied, taking his hand and shaking it. "Mind my asking, but, uh, I'm really confused. What's going on?"

"It's understandable that you are confused," he said, leaning back into the couch, "I will try my best to explain everything to you. Aileen, you are a witch." she gaped at him, then remembered her manners and shut her mouth quickly.

"I don't believe that. I couldn't be a 'witch', they don't exist anyways!"

"Both witches and wizards are quite real," he spoke softly, "As well as centaurs and giants, ghosts and elves. Of course, the Ministry of Magic takes care of such creatures so that muggles, that is, non-magic folk, don't see them or their effects. That is for the most part, anyway."

"No, this has to be some kind of hoax. Who set you up to this?"

"No it is not. No one."

"You can't prove it, can you?"

"My dear," he said with a twinkle in his eye, "The proof is in your jacket."

"My jacket?" She thought for a minute, then gasped. "You couldn't mean Cha-"

He nodded. "You can speak parseltongue, correct?"

"Parseltongue?"

"The ability to speak to snakes."

She blushed deeply. No one had ever believed her when she had told them that. She could just remember that time when she was little, and told her mother that she had talked to a garden snake in the front lawn.

_"Hahahahaha, Aileen, you couldn't speak to snakes, no one could do that!" she laughed again._

_"But Mommy, I really did! We talked! He was hungry and I caught him a grasshopper to eat!"_

_"Aileen!" said her father from the doorway. "Don't lie like that!"_

_"I didn't lie! I really did talk to him!"_

_"Aileen," snapped her father, "If you keep this up, I will have no choice but to punish you."_

_Aileen ran from the room, crying. And she never spoke of it again, not to anyone._

"Um, yes sir." she bowed her head.

"Well, I'll let you know now, that you are one of the only three people alive that can speak parseltongue. The other two are both wizards, and one is enrolled in Hogwarts right now."

"Really?" Aileen's head perked up. This was definitely no hoax. Not after this, it wasn't. She believed him, as far fetched as it sounded, she believed every word he said.

"Yes." he said, nodding. "Does this mean that you would like to go to Hogwarts as well?"

Aileen looked up, her eyes wide open. She nodded ferociously. "Yes, yes! I do! I really do!"

"Wait." It was Aileen's father, who had stood up, "What if we don't let her go? I mean, I wouldn't want my daughter anywhere that I could not contact easily, and I'm not so sure about this whole 'learning magic' thing. _I_ don't think she should go."

"You could contact us quite easily, and the magic that she will learn there will become extremely useful once she leaves Hogwarts." Dumbledore looked at him down his nose through his glasses. "You wouldn't want to deny her of an opportunity of this magnitude, would you Mr. Curter?"

"I, uh,"

"Please Dad?" It was Aileen. "For me?"

Aileen's father looked down at her. "Aileen, I-"

"Daniel." Aileen's mother looked at her husband with that knowing look. "I can tell that it is the best thing for her. She should go."

He looked down towards his wife, then to his daughter. He sighed, and sat (or more like collapsed), back down to the couch. "Well I guess I lose this vote three to one. She may go."

"Yay! I can go!" Aileen jumped to her feet. "Thank you Mom, thank you Dad!" she turned to Dumbledore. "I personally want to thank you myself for giving me this opportunity, Professor. Thank you." she smiled to him, and was reminded of something by a tickling in her pocket. "Charlie can go, can't he?" she asked.

"I think that can be arranged." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he spoke. "Now, on to more serious matters. Pertaining mainly to all the years of education that you missed."

Aileen flopped back down on the couch, to prepare herself for a particularly long conversation.

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**A/N: Well, that was the second one. I decided to be nice to you guys and give you this early because the last one was so short. Don't expect it all the time. You can expect the next one next Thursday thereabouts, but it may be sooner. Depends on how much I can get done. Haha. **

**Oh, and about the rating, it's definitely going to turn into a 'Teen' rating soon enough.**

**On REVIEWS, I'd like them. As I said before, flames are welcome. I actually like flames. Just make them make sense. Flames that make no sense are kind of a dull read. Ah well... That doesn't mean that I don't like nice reviews either, I really do! But I'll take what I can get. Even if it's nothing. I know SOMEONE has to be reading it, and if not, whatever. It'll turn into my own little private area where I put down all those crazy ideas that are floating around out in my head. **

**Till next time, Kyogera. **


	3. Knowledge Awaits!

**Disclaimer: Blah blah blah blah blah, blah bloo blah bloo blah. I hate Rowling. grumble grumble..**

**A/N: Oh! A review! I forgot about that whole '24 hour' thing. Hahahaha! Ahem. Here's the third one!**

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**Delayed Start: 3. Knowledge awaits!**

Dumbledore leaned forward on the couch and clasped his hands together. "I have been speaking with the Ministry over the past few days about the education you have missed, and we went through many possible options. One of these options would be to simply send you in with the first years. You would be four years older than everyone else there, but you would learn at a slow and even pace, giving you the opportunity that everyone else has had."

Aileen groaned. "I knew something like that would have to happen."

Dumbledore ignored Aileen's comment and continued. "Another option would be to teach you all the basics to catch you up with your class when they have their normal classes. When they have a class that you could participate in, you would join them."

Aileen didn't look much happier with this option.

"Our final option," said Dumbledore with a smirk, "would be to allow you to use one of the most rare and expensive items known to the wizardry world, the knowledge pendant."

"Uh, the what?" Aileen looked at him like he lost it.

"The knowledge pendant. You would wear it, and the knowledge stored inside would be released into your mind at a quick, yet even rate. Within a week of constant wear, you would know everything."

Aileen smiled. "I like that one. A lot."

"Ah yes," said Dumbledore, "but it has it's own problems too. One of them is that although it releases knowledge of these things, it does not give out the wisdom to use them."

"Huh?" Aileen raised an eyebrow. "I think I missed something."

"What I mean is, even though you would know the information, you would not have the skill or ability to use it in your current state. That takes practice. However, you could still go to school with that, and we would teach you after your normal classes how to do everything correctly."

"Oh, okay! So, does that mean that the Ministry will allow me to use it?"

"Well, there is one more problem. It can never touch bare flesh."

"Why not?"

"Because all the knowledge would be released into whoever touched it at once, and the shock would kill them. The only way I could let you use it is if it was covered by both a material and a magic block, so it in no way could come in contact with a living being. The block is so strong and large for safety purposes, that the result is that it would look like a large tire hanging from your neck."

"Oh. That's all?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes. I can get it for you, but remember, you would have to wear it constantly for about a week. You could not take it off at all or the process would slow down considerably."

"So," Aileen looked hopeful, "Does that mean I just coop myself up in the house for a week?"

"If you must."

"Okay! I'll do it!"

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Two days later

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

_"Why did I say that I'd do it?"_ moaned Aileen. The pendant with it's block was not only large, but extremely heavy. She had to use all of her strength to pick it up whenever she moved anywhere. She had limited herself to playing video games and sleeping, and would only leave her room to go to the bathroom or to get something to eat.

_"So you could go to Hogwarts, remember?"_ Charlie replied, laying out on top of her T.V.

_"But this is so heavy, Charlie!"_

_"Hey, either wear that thing for a week or spend seven years around kids who are four years younger than you."_

_"I guess when you put it that way...I just can't stand sitting still like this. It's like being chained to a boulder."_

_"Well, you better move that boulder over to your closet, I'm hungry."_

_"Yeah, yeah. mouse or what?"_

_"Hmm... Got any baby mice? They're the best."_

_"I might." _Aileen dragged herself to her closet, and went into the mini-fridge/freezer that was filled with all of Charlie's food. There wasn't much in there that was thawed, everything else stayed frozen to keep good. _"Yep, right here."_ she pulled out a thawed one with a pair of gloves and tossed it into the glass aquarium that was _supposed_ to be where he stayed all of the time. He didn't, of course.

He slithered over to it and she watched as he devoured it whole. Then she pulled off her gloves and hauled herself (and the pendant-boulder) back onto the bed, where a Gamecube controller was happily awaiting her. She picked it up and began to play some good old fashioned Zelda, impatiently awaiting when she could finally take the annoying pendant off.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Four Days Later

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

_"I can't believe it!"_ cried Aileen when she realized what day it was. _"I can get this stupid thing off tomorrow! Charlie, are you listening?"_

Charlie was snoozing in his aquarium. His tail moved a little, but other than that, he didn't budge.

_"CHARLIE! Wake up!"_

Charlie twitched and his head snapped up. _"Wha- oh- huh?" _he said groggily.

_"I can get this off tomorrow!"_

_"You woke me up to tell me that?"_

_"Uhm... Yeah..."_ Aileen looked a little hurt.

_"Ai, I'm tired. You should get some rest too. We were both up all last night."_

_"I couldn't sleep!"_

_"And you didn't let me sleep either!"_

_"I wanted someone to talk to!"_

_"Well, can you get some rest now?"_

_"No, I'm too exited!"_

_"You still _have_ a day left. Speaking of which, do you notice that you know things that you didn't before?"_

Aileen nodded. _"Yeah! I know the names of all these spells, and how to pronounce them, and which way to flick a wand, and how to control a broom, and for some reason I know all these different properties of different ingredients for potions."_

Charlie saw an opening. He knew her well enough to tell that if you talked to her long enough about something, she would inevitably fall asleep. The effect was common detentions at school. _"Wow, that must be interesting. What do the spells do?" _He knew he had her at that point.

_"Oh,"_ said Aileen quickly, _"All kinds of stuff! There's a spell called _lumos_ that will light the tip of your wand! If there's a locked door, saying _Alohomora_ will open it. _Accio_ will bring an item to you._ Wingardium Leviosa _will make something float in midair! _Incendio _will make a fire, -Oh! And there's three unforgivable curses!_ Imperious _will put someone under your control,_ Crucius _will cause them extreme pain, and the last one,_ Avada Kedavra_, will kill someone."_

Charlie noticed that she had abruptly stopped talking, and looked over to where she was on her bed, her head drooped down. _"Sound asleep, she did all the work for me!" _Charlie smiled, in only the way a snake can, and put his head back down to fall asleep.

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**A/N: Tada! Number three, there you go! I _was _going to give you number four Saturday, because it's basically written, but 1, It's longer, so I'll probably split it into two pieces, and 2, it's really choppy right now. There's a lot that goes on, and, to keep it simple, I'll be editing it for quite a while. So you should see part one next Wednesday. **

**No reviews for the second chappie? It was longer than the first chappie! Was it that bad? Well, I have someone on alert, so I KNOW that they are going to give me a review, RIGHT? --Stares at particular person who I will not name because you know who you are!-- right. **

**C U Wednesday, Kyogera**


	4. Booger Flavored Beans: Part I

**Disclaimer: Orange peacock eating tigers. Yeah, tigers...**

**A/N: So, back again, are we? Time fly's when you're playing Nintendogs. Haha! Man, that game is awesome.**

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**Delayed Start: 4. Booger Flavored Beans (and Aileen's other Power) Part One**

The week was finally over. Aileen couldn't wait until eight, which is when Dumbledore said that he'd come. She jumped up and down, well, as much as she could jump with a boulder on her neck, anyway.

_"Stop it, Ai_!" Charlie cried when he saw what she was doing_. "You'll break your bed!"_

_"Since when do you care about my bed?" _she replied. But she sat down anyway.

_"Fine, you'll break your neck with that thing on!"_

_"Since when do you care about my neck?"_

_"Since it was VITAL to your SURVIVAL! That's when!"_

_"I don't remember you saying to not balance on my head on the trampoline, or not to jump out of that tree, or not to try that back flip on the road, which HURT by the way!"_

_"Just don't do it, okay?"_

_"Whatever. Now what am I supposed to do? Oh," _said Aileen with an innocent look on her face, _"I know!"_ she reached out for the rope that was hanging on her bedpost.

_"No, no, not that!"_ Charlie slithered backwards, attempting to hide under her pillow. Needless to say, it didn't work, and he found himself on a makeshift leash five minutes later.

_"Aile-en,"_ he whined_. Why do you always do this?"_ She currently had him on the leash, wearing a mini sombrero hat and a red and gold belt on his suggested middle while taking pictures of him.

_"Be quiet and lift up your tail. A little to the left. Stick out your tongue. Perfect." FLASH!_ The camera went off. _"Okay, now turn your head a little-"_

"Aileen!" her mother called up.

"Yeah?"

"It's seven. Shouldn't you take a shower or something?"

"Seven already?"

"Seven-ten, actually."

"Holy shit!" she promptly ran to the bathroom with amazing speed, even if she hadn't had the boulder on.

_"Ahhh, saved by the mother."_ Charlie wiggled out of the ridiculous clothing that Aileen had made him wear.

_"Don't think you're getting off this easy!"_ Aileen called back to him.

_"Damn it." _

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Aileen was sitting on the couch, brushing her hair with Charlie on her shoulder when someone knocked on the door. Aileen knew who it was and was able to open the door before her mother.

Dumbledore stepped in. "Hello, Professor Dumbledore!" Aileen smiled. "Come in!" she stood out of his way so he could come in.

"I will, but I need to take care of this first." Dumbledore pulled out his wand and flicked it, making the heavy pendant disappear. "Did you wear it the whole time?"

"Yep! Didn't take it off even once."

"Good, good." He stepped through the doorway and sat down in the same spot on the couch that he had before. The family sat across from him.

He explained to them that Aileen still needed to get her books, a wand, robes, and other supplies. He gave her specific directions on how to get to Diagon Alley and what to get there, as well as a list of items and the shops that they would be in.

That's how Aileen found herself the next day telling Tom the barkeep the password to get him to open the brick wall. She decided to go alone, she didn't want her parents to mess up their schedules to do something that she could do herself.

"The Order of the Phoenix has sent me to do their bidding" she whispered to him over the counter.

"So you're Aileen, huh?" Tom said while leading her out back.

"Yes." They stopped in front of the brick wall, and Aileen became a little apprehensive about what would happen next.

Tom pulled out a wand and tapped the bricks in a pattern, making them move to reveal an entrance, just like Dumbledore said it would. "Good luck, and have a good time at Hogwarts, Aileen."

"Thanks," she said, and walked through. She looked back but the wall was already back to normal. "Hmmm, what's first?" She read the list. "Wand - Ollivanders." She looked around, saw the sign to the wand shop, and headed over to it.

Aileen walked into the door to Ollivanders but didn't see anyone there. There was a bell on the counter, so she hit it. An old man came around the corner, and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Did you break your wand? You couldn't be a first year, but I don't remember seeing you before." he leaned over the counter and studied her face. "No facial features I recognize either. Could you be Aileen?"

_How does everyone seem to know me?_ she wondered. "Um, yes. I need a wand."

"Of course you do! You're a witch, you need a wand. Let me see." he disappeared behind a shelf and reappeared with a few boxes. He opened one and handed the wand inside to Aileen.

"Do I flick it or something?"

"Yes. It's how you find the correct wand. Go ahead, now."

She flicked it. Nothing happened. "It doesn't work." She handed it back to him.

"Well," he said, giving her another, "How about this one?"

She flicked it again. "No go."

The process repeated itself again, and again, and again. A half hour, and many wands, later, Aileen felt like giving up. "I don't think that this will work."

"No, there has to be a wand for you!" said Ollivander, carrying out another stack. "These might work. They are much more rare, but the people who've used them have been some of the most amazing witches and wizards of their time." He handed her one. "This one has only had two other owners, wizards who have caused each other much pain and suffering (any ideas, people?)." She held it, and flicked it. Deja vu. Nothing (Haha, got you for a minute, didn't I?). She went through many more wands, without results. He finally handed her one that looked a little different from the rest. It was completely black, but flashed a silvery color in the sunlight. "No one has ever used this wand before. It is actually the only one of its kind, made only once, but nobody alive knows why."

She took it, and didn't even need to flick it before light streamed out and surrounded her in a colorful embrace. "Oh!" she gasped.

"That's the one then. We will have to see what comes from you then, won't we?" he smiled and hustled her out of the store. "You still have quite a list, go out there and get what you need!" She left and began walking while looking at her list. "Books, robe, ink and quills- Oh!" she said, bumping into someone.

"Sorry about that, I really am!" She apologized, looking at who she had bumped into, a boy about her age with glasses, messy hair, and a scar on his forehead.

"Oh, it's okay. Who are you? You must be about my age, but I don't remember seeing you at Hogwarts."

"I'm Aileen Curter," she said sticking out her hand, "The Ministry of Magic made a mistake and this will be my first year at Hogwarts. Who are you?"

"I'm Harry Potter," he said, taking her hand and shaking it, "Nice to meet you."

"You too."

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**A/N: Yay! Aileen meets Harry! This is part one of a two part chapter. I may update earlier this time, depends on how fast I get this stuff done. Okey dokey then.**

**Lovebuggy: Thanks for the review! I love Charlie too! He has a pretty important role in the next Chappie, and another VERY important character will make an appearance - tee hee**

**C U when I C U, Kyogera**


	5. Booger Flavored Beans: Part II

**Disclaimer: Ahh, the ever popular disclaimer, yet another example of the useless habits of the human species. Their territorialness has made others of their species actually say that they don't own an idea when they refer to it in their own way. Amazing, just amazing.**

**A/N: Part Two! Woohoo! It would've been out earlier, but my computer was acting all weird. Oo**

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**Delayed Start: 5. Booger Flavored Beans (and Aileen's other power) Part Two**

She let go of Harry's hand when all of a sudden, a boy with bright red hair ran up behind him. "Harry, where were you? We've been looking all over for you!" He turned his head to look over his shoulder. "Hermione, he's over here!"

A girl with brown eyes and wavy brown hair made her way across the busy street. "Oh, Harry, don't run off like that! We couldn't find you!" she cried. "Who's this?" Hermione had just noticed Aileen.

"Oh, this is Aileen, you guys." Harry said. "She was the one that the Ministry made a mistake on."

"Oh, I read about that in the daily prophet!" said the redhead.

"Ron, you actually _read_ something?" both Harry and Hermione looked at him.

"I, um, hey, I'm hungry. Let's go to the Hog's Head and get something to drink, I have a bunch of candy with me. Aileen, wanna come?"

Aileen was surprised with the invitation. "I still have a lot of shopping to do, and-"

"We all do!" Hermione blurted. "We can do it all together afterwards, if you'd like."

"Well, okay!" She tucked away the paper and followed them as they led her to the Hog's Head. Once there, they found a table and Harry ordered four butterbeer's for them.

"Two things, you guys," said Aileen. "First of all, what's butterbeer?"

"Butterbeer's this really awesome drink," Ron replied. "It's the best thing that you'll ever taste."

"Oh, okay. But um, I don't have enough money to pay for it. I only have enough for my school supplies."

"Don't worry about it! Harry's paying for everything. He's rich!"

Harry glared at him. "Ron,"

"Well you are!" Ron said in defense. "You have more money than you'd ever need!"

Harry sighed, then turned to Aileen. "Well, he's right that I'm paying, so don't worry about it. Everything's on me."

"Thank you, but won't your parents get mad at you?" she asked.

Everyone stiffened. "What did I say?" she whispered, surprised at their reaction.

Hermione leaned over to her and whispered into her ear. "Aileen, his parents are dead. They were murdered when he was a baby, by a wizard who was trying to kill him in the first place. That's how he got the scar on his forehead."

Aileen gaped, horrified. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean it, I didn't know! I'm sorry Harry!"

"It's okay." Harry said, relaxing. "You're right, you didn't know."

"Are you sure, I mean,"

"It's fine, Aileen, don't worry about it. Seriously." he added on. "Here's the Butterbeers!" a waitress came over to their tables and set them down. "Ron, you said you had candy?"

"Yep!" he smiled, then emptied a bag out on the table. "Aileen, these are chocolate frogs," he said, pointing to a box, "They are charmed to hop around, which is cool, but they have a wizard card in every pack! And these are Bernie Botts Every Flavor Beans, which have literally every single flavor imaginable!" he sat down, happy with his little explanation, and grabbed a chocolate frog. "Dig in!"

Aileen grabbed a box of the beans from the table. "Will do!"

"Be careful," Harry said, "There actually _is_ every single flavor, even a vomit flavored one."

"Eww," Aileen said, scrunching her mouth up. "I'll be careful." She opened the box and picked around at the beans, spotting a red one and hoping that it was the flavor she thought it was. She popped it into her mouth and bit down on it gingerly, relieved to find out that it was, in fact, cherry.

She continued picking through the beans and drinking butterbeer with her friends until a shadow fell over the table.

"Didn't expect to find _you_ here Potter." spat a voice. Aileen turned around to see an extremely pale boy with bleach-blonde hair and silver-blue eyes sneer at Harry.

"What do you want now, Malfoy," Harry growled. Aileen absentmindedly popped a random bean into her mouth.

"Nothing that would interest _you_ or that mudblood friend of yours," he replied, nodding at Hermione. She flinched.

All of a sudden Aileen's eyes bulged and she spat out the bean onto the pale boy's robes, earning a shocked expression from everyone at the table. "Sorry!" Aileen cried, startled at what she had done, "It was booger flavored!"

He glared at her. "You!" he snarled, clenching his fists, "You'll pay for that!" he took a step towards her and Aileen froze out of fear. Harry jumped up from his chair, but he was too late.

Aileen felt something on her shoulder jump out of her jacket, and saw a white blur as Charlie flew at the boy's face. "No!" she cried, "Charlie!"

Charlie landed on the boy, and sank his fangs into his pale flesh, earning a painful shriek from him, then let go.

"RARR!" the boy hollered, covering his bloodied face with his hands. "I'll get you for that, you just wait!" he hollered, and ran out the door. Charlie slithered up Aileen's leg and re-entered her jacket.

Aileen was in shock. Everyone at the surrounding tables stared at her, including the others sitting at her own table.

Harry suddenly grabbed her arm. "Let's go, now." he spoke softly, leading her through the door with Ron and Hermione following close behind. They went into an alley, and stopped. "What happened back there?" he whispered.

"Was that a bloody _snake_ that mauled Malfoy?" Ron shrieked.

"I-I-I," Aileen backed up. "I didn't think that would happen, I didn't think that Charlie would-"

"Just calm down" Hermione soothed, "Calm down and explain what's going on."

Aileen collapsed against the wall, the shock finally releasing her. "Well, I guess I better go through with this." she sighed. "Charlie is my pet snake. I can talk to him, and he tends to be protective of me."

The others froze. "D-did you say that you _talked_ to him?" Harry said, glancing at Ron and Hermione for explanation, but they had the same expression on their own faces.

"Yes." she pulled Charlie out of her jacket where he was resting. "Guys, Charlie, _Charlie, guys._" Charlie hissed. "He says that he is pleased to meet you, and he was sorry for causing all that trouble."

"I know," Harry whispered.

"What?" Aileen tilted her head at him, and, oddly, Charlie did the same.

"Oh!" Harry's eyes grew bigger at realizing what he had just revealed. "Nothing! I-I mean, you can speak parseltongue?"

"Yes..." Aileen said slowly. "Why?"

Harry and Ron looked at each other, but Hermione was the one that spoke up. "Oh, nothing. It's just rare, that's all."

"Any other secrets that you'd like to share with us?" Harry said slowly.

"Well," Aileen thought for a minute, not sure if she should tell them or not. She made up her mind. "Yes. There is something."

"Well," Ron spoke up, "What is it?"

"I can mimic any human voice perfectly."

"Haha, yeah right." Ron laughed, and Aileen looked a little hurt. "Prove it."

"Is this proof enough?" she said, matching the tone and pitch of Ron's voice exactly.

"Wha," Ron looked dumbfounded. "That is bloody awesome!" he hollered. Harry and Hermione stepped back at this, surprised at his reaction.

"You can really do that?" Hermione said softly.

"Yes," Aileen replied, this time copying Harry's voice.

Harry's jaw dropped. "Wow, you really can do that!"

Aileen smiled. "So you don't think that I'm a freak?"

"No, but I think I know what house that you're going to be in." he replied, looking at her shoulder, where Charlie had flown out before.

"Yeah, me too," she said, understanding what he meant. "By the way, what house are you guys in?"

"We're all in Gryffindor," Hermione said.

Aileen looked down. "Oh. What house is that boy in?"

"Oh, Draco?"

"I guess, that Malfoy kid."

"That's him. He's in Slytherin."

"Shit. Just my luck." They all looked at her sympathetically.

"Hey!" Hermione said cheerfully, attempting to bring them out of their mood, "We still have a ton of shopping to do!"

"Hey, you're right!" Aileen looked up happily. "Let's get to it!" So, the four new friends went off to finish their shopping.

* * *

**A/N: Well, that's it, folks! Part two, donerino. Yes, that _is_ a word. Since I made it up :P. Aileen's voice ability WILL come into play, I didn't just pop it into there for no reason. So don't think that this was a filler. It definitely wasn't. **

**I'll be putting the next one out there Saturday.**

**Until Saturday, Kyogera**


	6. Train Sick

**Disclaimer: Don't own it. You know that well enough by now! **

A/N: This chapter is horrible. I hate it. But I said I would get it out Saturday, so I will have to. I'm giving myself more time for the next one.

****

Delayed Start: 6. Train Sick

* * *

This was it. This was the day. Aileen stood next to her luggage at King's Cross Station, anxiously waiting for Harry, Ron, and Hermione to come. After getting her owl, Amaya, in Diagon Alley, she had written a letter to them about how worried and nervous she was. Hermione replied, saying that they would meet up with her on the first day.

Aileen looked around her again, but still didn't see them. Her mind wandered to the ticket held tightly in her hand. _Platform 9 3/4_. She knew that she had to walk through the wall, but was too nervous to do it alone. Suddenly Amaya screeched as someone passed right in front of her cage rather quickly.

"You all right Amaya?" Aileen asked. Amaya just looked at her, and make a quick up-and-down motion with her head, signifying a yes. She was a really beautiful owl, with pure black feathers. On her forehead there was a raindrop-shaped section in a midnight blue color, which accented her green-gold eyes. Aileen was lucky to have gotten her, she was definitely the best owl at the store, and cost as much. Aileen didn't exactly have the money, but she fell in love with the bird the second she saw her. Harry realized this and was sweet enough to pay the difference. Aileen thanked him nonstop for the next three hours, making him threaten her with a silencing charm.

Amaya suddenly cooed, and relaxed into her previous state.

Aileen looked at her, and then back at the ticket. _"Charlie!"_ she whispered.

_"What?"_ he whispered back.

_"Have you seen them yet?"_

_"No. I would have told you if I had."_

_"I know, it's just.."_ Aileen sighed.

_"What, do you think that they aren't coming?"_

_"Well, what if they forgot or something?"_

_"I highly doubt it. I'm sure that we just got here too early. It's still 10:30, the train doesn't leave until 11."_

_"But what if they did?"_

_"Ai, they couldn't forget you. Not after the little incident with that Malfoy kid." _

Aileen winced. _"I hope he's okay..." _

_"What? He looked like he was going to attack you! Besides, that bite could be fixed with some simple healing magic."_

_"I guess that you're right..."_

_"Speak of the devil."_ Charlie hissed lowly. Amaya stopped cooing, and turned to face in the direction that both Aileen and Charlie were looking. There was Draco, not more than twenty feet away, with two large and stupid looking boys trailing behind him. Charlie was right, there wasn't a scratch on him. Still, Aileen was relieved that he hadn't spotted her yet.

All of a sudden, Aileen spotted Harry. That was good. However, so did Malfoy. That was bad.

"Oh no." Aileen whispered. At that point, Harry noticed her and started to come over, as Hermione and Ron appeared running after him from behind a crowd. He hadn't noticed Malfoy yet.

"Harry!" she called, waving her hands, "Behind you!" Malfoy was coming up quick, and he didn't look happy. However, Harry was still too far away to hear her, and just waved back. Then Malfoy saw her, and changed from charging at Harry to charging at her.

They reached her at the same time. One was glad to see her, the other looked like he wanted her dead. Harry finally noticed that Draco was there, and a large amount of verbal fighting ensued.

"What the hell are you doing here? Haven't you caused enough trouble?"

"I could say the same about you, Potter! This is between me and her!"

"You leave her alone, she didn't do anything!"

"Oh yeah, like that little pest of hers was totally content with me last time!"

"He was protecting her!"

"He attacked me!"

"You deserved it!"

"SHUT UP!" Aileen hollered, as Ron and Hermione finally got over to them. "Shut up now!"

They stopped. Harry took a step back, and Draco glared at her. Charlie appeared from out of the collar of her jacket, and Malfoy stepped back as well.

He snorted. "This isn't over yet, Curter." Then he spun around and walked quickly back to where his goons were. Everyone sighed.

"I won't ask," Ron said, rolling his eyes.

"You guys," started Hermione, "It's almost 11. We have to get to the train, now!"

"Yeah, lets go," sighed Harry, running a hand through his forever-messy hair. "Aileen, you know how to do it?"

She nodded. "I'll go first and get it over with."

They all positioned themselves in front of the barrier. Aileen took a deep breath and started to walk quickly towards it, while pushing her luggage. Right before she went through, she closed her eyes tightly, out of fear. A _whoosh_ went through her ears, and she was through. She opened her eyes slowly and gasped.

It was beautiful. The black train puffed out steam that partially covered the golden "H" etched onto the side. Multiple open entrances carried students into the train. All around her, she was surrounded my witches and wizards of all sorts, some first years giving their parents a last good-bye hug, some seventh years strutting around and looking dangerous. Aileen was amazed by it all. Harry came next, then Ron, and finally Hermione.

"Hey," started Ron, "Let's get a seat!" They all nodded their heads and went to the train. A wizard put their luggage into storage compartments before they went on. Luckily, they were able to get a seat that wasn't so far back, and was far away from Malfoy.

"So, finally, we're going back to school!" cried Hermione.

"Oh, please don't talk about school yet, Mi." moaned Ron. "I'm definitely not looking forward to another year of _Snape_."

Aileen cocked her head at him. "Snape?"

"This horrid teacher who hates all of the students." grumbled Ron.

"Although I hate to degrade a professor," said Hermione, "I have to admit, he's right. The only student he actually seems to like is Malfoy. And he hates Harry, more than anyone else."

"Why?"

Harry shrugged. "_I_ don't know, why don't you ask him."

Hermione glared at Harry for a second, then turned back to Aileen. "Don't do that."

"Um, I kinda knew he was being sarcastic. I wouldn't have done it anyway." mumbled Aileen, running a hand through her short hair.

"Oh, well, good then." said Hermione, satisfied.

They sat in silence for a ways further, until the food cart came by. Everyone got tons of candy, and Ron showed off his 'eating and speaking at the same time' ability.

"Whell," he said, stuffing food in his face, "Thish must be the bwest candy I've hahd in a wong time."

"Ron, don't..." started Hermione.

"Down't whrat?"

She sighed. "Never mind."

Ron shrugged and continued eating. Aileen had a chocolate frog, but nothing else. She was too excited to eat. "How much longer will it be?" she asked.

"About a half hour." Harry said, broken from his trance of looking out the window. "We should probably get changed into our robes now."

"Okay. Hermione, lets get to the bathroom so we can change."

She nodded. "Yeah, let's go." They left the two boys and went to the bathrooms. After they changed, Aileen decided to ask Hermione a question.

"Ah, Hermione?"

"Yeah?"

"Why um, did that evil wizard try to kill Harry?" Charlie poked his head out of the pocket in her robe to hear the conversation better.

Hermione sighed. "This is a long story, one that I shouldn't tell you. That's Harry's job. Not mine."

"Is it that serious?"

"Yes. Harry is more well known than you'd think. Somewhat of a celebrity."

"Really? Why?"

"Because of the wizard. Because of Voldemort."

Aileen cringed. Had she heard that name before? Where? She couldn't think. "Is that the wizard's name?"

"Yes. But don't go talking about it."

"Why not?"

"Harry should tell you."

Aileen nodded, and fell silent.

"We should go back." They walked back to their seats, finding both Harry and Ron dressed in their robes. Ron was groaning and holding his stomach.

"Ate too much candy?" asked Aileen, concerned.

He just nodded, then groaned again. "Train.. Moving.. Sick.."

"We'll be there soon." With that, the train started to slow down, and Aileen realized that they were already there. It gave a final lurch, and stopped.

Everyone slowly started to move out of the train, the first years going into boats and the rest into carriages that would bring them to the school. Aileen stepped out of the train followed by Harry, Hermione, and the sick Ron. They were ahead of him, so they stopped for a moment to let Ron catch up. He took a few steps, then bent over gripping his stomach tightly.

"Ohhh," he moaned. Then he promptly showed everyone what he had eaten in the past eight hours. Needless to say, no wonder he had gotten sick.

"Ewwwww," said everyone in unison, and went to help him clean up.

* * *

**A/N: Well, that's chapter six for ya. I know it was sort of a filler, but it was necessary. The train ride is always a filler. But it has to be there. It's a good chance to deepen the plot. The ****confrontation **with Draco was needed, as well as the talk with Hermione about Harry. All will be made clear soo-... well eventually anyway. :) 

**Lovebuggy: Of course she is! Why wouldn't I make Aileen sweet as pie? Mmm. pie..**

**Sever13: Hey thanks! You're my second reviewer! Wee! Yeah, I thought the large pendant would add some humor to the story, that's why I made it so big. Haha. Concerning Draco, I like him too. However, the mind works its magic in many different ways. Mine made me do that for a reason (stupid mind!). A reason that will cause the major conflict of this story. You'll see soon enough. **

**Lemme pick a good day...Saturdays should be good. Yes, I want to give myself enough time for this one, it's important. Saturday you shall see the sorting hat. (A/N: ooh, ahhh) (A/N to the A/N: You're IN the A/N! You don't need an A/N in the A/N!) (A/N to the A/N to the A/N: Shut up! You're doing it too!)**

**(Me: Oo;; uhhhh...), Kyogera**


	7. The Organizing Apparel

**Disclaimer: I DO own it! I'm JK in disguise! Well, not really...**

**A/N: The long awaited chapter of the sorting hat! Drum roll, please!**

* * *

**Delayed Start: 7. The Organizing Apparel**

"Oh, Ron," said Hermione, "I'll take you to the infirmary. Come with me."

She led the still-groaning Ron off in the other direction from the rest of the students. Aileen watched them go, and then turned to Harry. "Harry, where do I go?"

"It would make sense for you to go in with the first years waiting to be sorted. I'll show you the way." He led her quickly to the main entrance, bypassing the other students so they could get there faster. "In there." He said, pointing. She followed his directions and walked into the great hall, surrounded by tons of younger children.

"Ah!" said an older voice as she stepped in, "Aileen Curter. Come with me."

Aileen turned around towards the voice, which belonged to an older woman with a large pointed hat. "Me?"

"Yes you, is there any _other_ Aileen Curter I should know about?"

"No ma'am."

"Then come with me. Quickly now." She led Aileen off to the side, and had her sit down in a chair. "All the first years will be sorted, and then you will be called up. At that time, you are to go to the front of the room, and get sorted into your correct house."

Aileen nodded. "I understand." Then the woman left, and went up to the front of the room to sit with many other older people, one of whom being Professor Dumbledore. She looked around the great hall, and quickly found Malfoy sneering at some snide comment that one of his goons made. She looked across the room, and saw Harry. Neither Ron nor Hermione were back yet. Suddenly her head snapped to attention as Professor Dumbledore began to speak.

"Welcome again, dear students. This year we have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Umbridge** (A/N: Ooh! I kept something in correctly after all!)**." A short, fat lady stood up, and nodded her head, as if to acknowledge herself. Aileen didn't like her. "Of course, all of our other teachers will still be with us. Professor Snape," he said, motioning towards a paler faced man with greasy hair, "Professor McGonagall," who Aileen realized to be the same woman from before, "Professor Sprout, Professor Trelawney, and, of course, Hagrid. "The giant man shocked Aileen, But he gave all the Students a big, friendly wave, which made her feel better.

Dumbledore trailed on, about the rules, different arrangements, and other such important tasks. During his little talk, Aileen spotted Hermione and a much healthier looking Ron enter the room and take their seats next to Harry. Finally, Dumbledore came to the sorting hat.

"The first years will be called up one by one, and the sorting hat will be placed on their heads, to decide which house they will go to. Now to start."

Everyone became attentive as the first student was called.

"Anon, Katrina." A little girl happily bounced up to the chair and sat down, the hat on her head.

"Gryffindor!" cried the hat. The students at the Gryffindor table cheered, and little Katrina merrily ran to the table and sat down.

"Azgarch, Thomais."

"Slytherin!"

"Beterra, Ramona"

"Ravenclaw!"

Aileen watched, as one by one, all the first years stood up, and all were sorted to their houses. As the last boy was sorted into Hufflepuff, Dumbledore spoke again.

"Before we end the ceremonies for tonight and begin our feast, we have one more student to sort."

"Curter, Aileen."

Aileen gulped. She slowly stood up, and made her way to the chair that her future would be decided in. Her hands shook slightly as she sat down and the hat was put on her head.

"Ohh, are we nervous?" Aileen's eyes bulged. She knew it talked, but she didn't know it could talk _to_ people.

"Well, lets see what we have here. Oh, my, an ability to talk to snakes? You would be _perfect_ in Slytherin. What? This is interesting. You have an amazingly courageous spirit, and such loyalty. What a candidate for Gryffindor. My, though, you are so shy, such a Hufflepuff trait. Yet you are so intelligent. A stunning Ravenclaw! Hmmm.. This is quite difficult. I haven't had such trouble since Harry Potter came here. Hmmm..."

Aileen gulped, and looked down. She was so worried. Finally the hat seemed to decide.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Aileen was shocked. Happily shocked, but shocked nonetheless. _Gryffindor? How did she..._ But it was too late for that now. The hat was removed from her head, and she went over to sit with Harry, Ron, and Hermione at the cheering Gryffindor table. Dumbledore spoke for the final time that night:

"Let the feasts begin!"

Plates full of delicious food immediately appeared, and all the students grabbed as much as they could stuff onto their plates. Aileen turned to Hermione. "I can't believe it!" she said, happily. "This is awesome! I can't believe that I got in!"

"I know! This is great!"

"Yeah," put in Harry, "Now we can all stay friends."

"Why wouldn't we?" asked Aileen, confused.

"It's a known fact that Slytherins and Gryffindors NEVER get along," said Hermione quietly.

"Oh. Well then, I'm even more glad that I got in!" she smiled.

"Weh! Shish Gwreat!" Ron said, his mouth full of food.

"Ummm," said Aileen, a bit surprised that he would eat _anything_ now.

"Boys never learn." Said Hermione, shaking her head. Ron just smiled sheepishly at them, then went back to eating.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

At the common room

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"So, the password is 'Reundle', right?" asked Aileen for the umpteenth time.

"Yes, Aileen, it is." said Hermione, starting to get annoyed. They were in the girls dormitory, and Aileen had just finished taking care of Charlie and Amaya. "Lets go downstairs, then we can talk to Harry and Ron."

"Why can't we talk to them up here?"

Hermione raised one eyebrow at her. "Because, they can't come up. If they try, the stairs turn into a slide."

"Oh," said Aileen, a little quiet. "Hey! Did they ever use it as a slide to like play on?"

Hermione shook her head, a little surprised at Aileen's wacky idea.

"I know! We should try it!" She cried, startling a few of the other girls in the dorm, and making Hermione gape. "Come on! Let's do it!"

She pulled Hermione down the stairs, and into the common room, where both Harry and Ron were sitting, relaxing. "Hey guys!" she called, causing them to turn their heads, "I have an idea!"

Five minutes later, not only Harry and Ron, but _all_ of the Gryffindor boys were flying down the newly made slide, and crashing into various pieces of furniture. They would get a running start, to see how far they could get up, and as the stairs transformed, they fell flat on their face and slid down.

Ron got the farthest up before falling, almost halfway. But he eventually succumbed to it as well, spinning out of control and knocking over a lamp at the bottom. Luckily it didn't break, probably protected by magic. Everyone laughed once he was able to get up and rub his head.

"That _hurt_!" he groaned, rubbing it more. At that, everyone laughed harder. Aileen was the happiest of them all, not thinking once of the classes that were to come tomorrow.

* * *

**A/N: Haha, no surprises there. I'm pretty predictable, most of the time. Of _course_ she got into Gryffindor, lol. I mean, what was I going to do stuffing her into Hufflepuff? _Any_way, time for the reviews.**

**Lovebuggy: Oh, yeah, that's good. Personally, my favorite is pumpkin. It's soooo good.**

**Sever13: As a reviewer myself, I know how to make them happy. I'm glad you like my responses. The main conflict won't happen for a bit, at least a few more chapters. But I might bring it here sooner. I'm not sure. **

**Well, that's that chapter. Next time should be her first day of school. So, I'll get it out Saturday again. All right? Okay then.**

**C U Saturday, Kyogera.**


	8. Cauldrons, Wands, and Snape, Oh My!

**Disclaimer: Yatta yatta yatta, I'm so bored with that thing.**

**A/N: Well, I'm starting school next week, which means that this is going to become a whole lot tougher to get out. I'm still going to try to get it out quickly, but I might run into some troubles. It's covered again in my bottom note. ****I promise to try my best though!**

* * *

**Delayed Start: 8. Cauldrons, Wands, and Snape, Oh My!**

The sun sifted through the curtains, landing on Aileen's face to make her twitch.

"Aww, I don't wanna go to school. Five more minutes?" She groaned, putting her pillow over her face, which woke up Charlie (who was on the pillow) in the process.

_"Ai! Why'd you do that? You have to get ready anyway! Do you really want to be late on your first day?"_

Aileen sat bolt upright, taking in what he said. She looked around herself frantically, trying to find any of the other girls, but she didn't see them. "_Oh my god! Charlie! I woke up late!"_

_"Don't worry, they're probably just down at the great hall. If you hurry, you can catch up."_

_"Okay, um, clothes, hair, shower, teeth, books, yahh!"_ She ran around the dorm, and into the bathroom. When she was finished, she got dressed, ran out of the bathroom, grabbed the sleeping form of her pet snake, and flew out of the room. Right when she was about to open the doors to the great hall, the bell rang, signaling to all the students that it was time for class.

"Oh, no." Aileen groaned, vocalizing her stomach.

"You need something?" said a voice behind her.

Aileen turned around to a smiling Hermione holding out a muffin for her. "Hermione! Oh, thank you! I was starving!" she cried, taking the muffin and eating it.

"No problem. I knew you slept in late, and that you probably wouldn't make it in time. So I grabbed that when nobody was looking."

"Wow, you're the best. You rock."

She smiled. "Thanks. But we need to go if we don't want to be late. Potions are first."

Aileen nodded, and followed her down into the dungeon, where the class was to be held. She immediately recognized Snape from the day before, and took her seat quickly next to Hermione before he had to tell her to do so.

"Ahh, I see that our new student has arrived a bit late," he said, even though the bell had not yet rung. "Let's see if you are _actually_ smart enough to arrive late, Miss Curter. Tell me what you know about the _Frellungus_ plant."

Aileen knew nothing about it, but the knowledge pendant must have. "The _Frellungus_ plant, which resembles a rock, is most commonly found near sources of fresh water, either by the bank of a stream or small river. The hard outer shell is much more difficult to break than any rock, and has no other purpose than to seal a pod inside. The pod holds all the nutrients required for the plant to live in times of hardship, and can be turned into a miraculous healing potion if mashed."

The other students, including Hermione, gasped, but Snape just scowled. "That is correct, Miss Curter. However, for your cockiness, I shall deduct five points from Gryffindor."

Now it was her time to gasp. She heard a snicker from across the room, which she recognized as Malfoy's. She was about to argue with Snape's decision, but Hermione simply shook her head. The class continued on, but Aileen didn't pay much attention to it. She was too mad.

"I can't believe it!" she cried to Harry and Ron as they headed towards their next class, Transfigurations. Hermione had one of her advanced classes, so she wasn't with them. "How could he do that?"

"He hates Gryffindors. What can I say?" said Ron, dejectedly.

"He always acts like that. It's just the way he is. You'll get used to it," Harry put in, waving his hand around in an explanatory motion. "But, to look at the bright side, if you don't get advanced in your Potion OWL's, you won't take it next year."

"I guess you're right. But still..." she trailed off. "I guess that I'll just have to get used to it."

Aileen followed the two boys into the Transfigurations room, this time well before the bell. It was three to a table, so she sat between Harry and Ron.

"What's this, Hogwarts newest mudblood, already getting herself acquainted with the guys?" snapped the cruel voice of Malfoy, leaning over the table. "I think we have ourselves a very _interesting_ one here." He laughed, and his goons followed.

All three of them glared up at him, but before Aileen could say a word, Professor McGonagall entered the classroom. "Okay everyone, take your seats. We need to get right into the lessons if you are to pass your OWL's at the end of the year. This year, we will be working on human transfiguration. We will start with hair and eye color. Get yourself with a partner, and start practicing the spell on page 212 in your textbooks."

Aileen got paired up Ron, and Harry got himself paired up with Pansy Parkinson, to his great displeasure. By the end of the class, Ron's hair was a much brighter shade of red, and hers was a deep violet. He had also turned one of her brown eyes a creepy golden color, but she was able to fix both discolorations rather quickly. Nothing happened to Harry, but Pansy's hair was green. She _wasn't_ able to fix that.

Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid was next, and although Aileen found herself liking him quite a lot, his class bored her out of her mind. She was happy when lunch came. She laughed with Harry, Ron, and the newly rejoined Hermione over the most stupid of conversations, continuing until the period ended and they needed to get to their next class.

During Defense Against the Dark Arts, Aileen's dislike of Professor Umbridge was solidified. She didn't know who she hated more, Snape or her. The day wore on, through the boring Divination class with Professor Trelawney and the dirty Herbology class with Professor Sprout. By the end of the day she was exhausted, but she perked up when a messenger brought her a note from Dumbledore.

It read:

_Dear Aileen,_

_Now is the time for your first class on mastering the knowledge that you have learned. I will meet you at 8 o'clock sharp in my office. _

_All the best,  
Professor Dumbledore_

_P.S. I like earwax-flavored beans._

Aileen understood the note, and realized that it was very close to eight. She waved goodbye to Ron and Hermione in the common room. Harry was already asleep.

She quickly found herself in front of the gargoyle that concealed his office, and called out the password, giving herself entrance. When she came into the room, she was amazed at all that was there. However, she wasn't surprised. It matched his personality perfectly. He called her over to a pedestal with a small pebble on it.

"Now, I will give you instructions, and you are to follow them out the best you can. This is to get you accustomed to using your wand, as well as letting me know how much more training you need."

She nodded. "I understand."

"Good then," smiled Dumbledore, a twinkle in his eye. "First, levitate the pebble"

"_Wingardium Leviosa_" The tiny rock lifted, and Dumbledore nodded.

"Good. Bring it to you."

"_Accio Pebble_" It moved towards her quickly, and stopped right above her hand, which grabbed it.

"Very good." Dumbledore continued to make her do more and more difficult spells with the pebble, by making it fly in circles, hold up a larger rock, and finally dissolve as if it had been dropped in acid.

Aileen was completely drained from using all the magic, and had to lean on the original pedestal to keep herself upright.

"You did better than I thought, Aileen. I'm quite impressed."

"Thank you," she said, once catching her breath. "May I go now?"

"Yes, you can."

"Thank you." She stumbled out of the room and down the stairs. Once she got to the bottom, she was forced to sit back against the wall to regain some energy. She didn't even remember finally collapsing into bed, instantly falling asleep.

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**A/N: Wow, that was a long one. For a reason. I am running out of chapter ideas to use as fillers between now and Halloween, where the major event takes place. I have decided to skip ahead a month or so to get there sooner. However, the Halloween chapters are a bit long, and I need to make sure everything that needs to be put in, is. That, and the fact that I'm starting school again next week, will force me to make the next few updates two weeks apart, instead of one. I'm sorry if this makes any of you mad, but it's my only choice. **

**Anyway, the reviews. Yay! New reviewers! Thankies!**

**runnerz: Oh, that's a sort of long story. When I was trying to find a good name for Aileen's character, I realized that I definitely wanted one that began with the letter "A", and meant "light". That was important to me, but I wasn't sure why at the time. After a bit of searching around baby name sites, I found the name "Aileen", which fit perfectly. So there you go. :)**

**HermioneandDracoForever: Thank you! That means a lot. As for the whole "hooking up" deal, this is a romance; there will be a couple. One of the two will be Aileen, but the other will not be Harry. You will find out the other person relatively soon, but not yet. :)**

**Lovebuggy: LOL. I could have put her in one of those houses, but then, oh, I don't know, my material would be kind of raw. If that makes any sense. O.o;;**

**Tada. How many times have I said that? Well, it doesn't really matter. What matters is that I need to start the next chapter. So,**

**C U da Saturday afta next Saturday, Kyogera**


	9. Quiddich and Some New News

**Disclaimer: Okay, if I owned Harry, do you think that I'd be doing this? No! I'd be eating cheese in Hawaii, that's what I'd be doing.**

**A/N: So sorry for the delay! However, during the time I was kicked off the computer, I was able to work on plot ideas. I realized that if I kept going the way I was, I'd write myself into a corner. So I spent a couple days making a NEW plot. It does a lot better than the old one, believe me. Don't worry; none of the old chapters will be changed. However, from this point on, there will be quite a few major changes. **

**The only one that you should know about, however, is the change during Halloween. You won't find out who the mystery person is until the end of the story. The next few chapters, although still important, will not reveal that person. Also, you may or may not have noticed the genre change. It now includes mystery. The reason for that will become apparent in a little while. Remember, this chapter hops ahead in time to a week before Halloween! Anyway, I'll stop blabbering now and let you read.**

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**Delayed Start: 9. Quiddich and Some New News**

"The tension and excitement is apparent here, as Madam Hooch has the Gryffindor and Slytherin team captains shake hands," hollered Lee Jordan into the announcement microphone. "All the balls are in the air except for the Quaffle, which she now holds in her hands."

Aileen watched the action intently from the stands next to Hermione. "Good luck, Harry!" she hollered.

He turned to face them and waved. They both waved back. "Slaughter them!" screamed Hermione. Both Harry and Aileen gaped at her. She blushed and looked away.

"I want a _fair_ game from you two, today." Madam Hooch said to each of the teams. Her whistle blew as she threw the Quaffle into the air.

"And they're off! Katie Bell gets the Quaffle right away and races down to the end of the field, nearing the Slytherin goals. Miles Bletchley looks determined, he is not going to let her pass!"

Aileen ignored Jordan and started to look around for Harry. Although the Quiddich season had started quite a while ago, this ended up being the first match up between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Everyone in Hogwarts had been talking about how amazing this match was going to be ever since the start of the season. Aileen spotted Draco, but she didn't see Harry until a few seconds later. He was speeding down the field after something. She realized that it must be the Snitch. Draco swerved around and followed him on his own broomstick.

"Ten points for Gryffindor!" cried Jordan, as a beaming Angelina Johnson threw the Quaffle through the hoop right above Bletchley's head. Harry went through as well, but he was following the Snitch. "Look at that! Harry Potter goes right through the hoop just after the Quaffle, followed by a determined looking Draco Malfoy!"

The houses now watched the two seekers, as they zipped around faster and with more persistence than ever before. Suddenly they both shot up. For some reason, the Snitch was flying right up into the clouds. After a few moments, nobody could see either of the two boys. Everyone began whispering quietly.

"This is amazing, we seemed to have lost our seekers for the time being!" Jordan barked out. "Oh, wait, look at this! Slytherin Chaser Adrian Pucey, not shaken at all by the current situation, has grabbed the Quaffle and is zipping down the field as we speak!" All eyes turned to the field, where Pucey was getting closer and closer to the hoop goals. He bashed right through Cormac McLaggen and tossed the ball through the upper hoop. "10 points for Slytherin! Now our two teams are tied!" The players on the field suddenly got out of the trance and started playing like mad. "Oh, look at that, Gryffindor's Jack Sloper is slamming those Bludgers all over the place! Ooh-one just hit Bletchley in the arm, which will cause some troub-wait, Katie Bell is down after a collision with Pucey! Adrian seems fine, however."

Again Aileen allowed herself to ignore the happenings in the field and looked up towards the sky, where no sign of either Harry or Draco could be found. Suddenly she saw two specks-one red and one green, getting larger by the second. "Hermione!" she whispered, tugging at the girl's sleeve.

"What?"

"Look!" Aileen said, pointing up. Everyone else around her looked up as well.

"It looks as if our Seekers have returned, even feistier than before!" Harry and Draco were both flying down at lightning speed towards the Snitch. They suddenly veered left and flew in a tight loop. "The Snitch is definitely acting up today, this will be a match to remember!" Harry and Draco were both trying to push each other off their course, but all in vain. Slowly, they inched closer and closer to the Snitch.

Both of their arms stretched out, fingertips just out of reach. Suddenly, they both grabbed it between their thumb and index finger, at the same time. The game was won. The crowed roared. "For the first time in history, folks, we have a tie between the two greatest house rivals Hogwarts has ever known. The winner of this match-both Slytherin _and_ Gryffindor!"

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

In The Great Hall That Night

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

"That was one exciting match today, wasn't it?" Dumbledore asked the hall full of students as he stood up, smiling, to make an announcement. "I must congratulate our Quiddich players for the amazing effort that they put into today's game. However, that is not the only reason I am speaking to you."

Everyone suddenly focused on him in that one moment; for some reason he always had that effect on people. Aileen had admitted more than once that she was impressed by it.

"As you all know, Halloween is coming in a week." Of course everyone knew. The Halloween ball and Hogsemede trip were the only things on the student's minds lately. "This year, after much consideration, the teachers have decided to allow you to wear your costumes all day long on Halloween."

Everyone started to whisper excitedly to their classmates. Nobody had expected this at all.

"In addition," Dumbledore spoke up again, "We will be holding a costume contest. All day on Halloween, we will take votes for the best costume. The winner will receive an entire year's worth of Bernie Botts Every Flavor Beans!"

The hall erupted into a wave of voices. Little tidbits of conversation could be heard through the exuberant conversing.

"I can't believe it!"

"This is so bloody awesome, what will I wear?"

"Oh my God, I hope no one dresses up as something gross!"

"Ahem," Dumbledore stated loudly. The noise softened. "There will be some attire that is not allowed. No dressing up as Dementors, He Who Must Not Be Named, or any other Death Eater. Also, this year, _please_ do not dress up as Medusa, anyone." Everyone laughed. Someone must have done that last year and actually frozen someone. "Other than that, anything is allowed. Be creative!" Dumbledore raised his glass, then sat down after a wave of clapping. Plates of food finally appeared in front of the students, and everyone began to dig in.

"Wow, this is so cool," stated Ron as they left that evening. "I want to dress up as Professor Sprout!"

"The others stifled some laughter. "Maybe you should try for something less.. err..._teachery_" Harry said slowly.

"Oh, 'teachery', that one will win you an award." Hermione snuffed at him. "Myself, I'm only worrying about tonight's Defense Against the Dark Art's essay. That is going to be brutal."

"Oh my God!" cried Aileen. "I forgot my scroll in the Library!"

"Don't worry, I'll go with you to get it. We just need to be careful of the teachers." Harry offered.

Aileen nodded. "Okay, we'll meet you guys in the common room later, okay?" The others nodded, and went in the other direction.

The two walked through the halls quickly and quietly, avoiding a close encounter with Filch's cat. Once they got to the Library, Harry held open the door just slightly, so Aileen could slip through, and then followed as quietly as possible. Aileen instantly spotted her scroll on one of the tables.

"There it is!" Aileen said happily, picking up the scroll and a quill.

"That all you need?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, that's all, thanks Har."

"Okay, let's go before we're caught out of bed."

Aileen nodded and they jogged out of the room and through the corridors to the Gryffindor common room. They both stopped suddenly at the end of one hall as a large figure approached them.

"What are you doing up this late?" spat a very angry looking Professor Umbridge.

Harry and Aileen looked at each other quickly. This was going to be bad.

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**A/N: Okay, tried to avoid a cliffhanger there. Hope I didn't do too badly. The next few chapters, which are all coming out two weeks from one another, will either be oddly long, or oddly short. Please bear with be. I'm still adjusting to the new plot. Now, for my reviews:**

**Delta74: uh... I'm sorry, but I don't know what that means. So I can't really reply to it. Sorry!**

**Paulbo: DAD! Why did you do that! I TOLD you that you reading this was embarrassing! (sigh). Well, thanks for the compliment anyway. Oh-and I'm not changing the plot because of you. I realized my mistake on my own. So HA.**

**SwordMasterK14: Goody for you. (glares). You could have told me that on AIM. Not like you didn't anyway. (sigh). What can I expect? It's you. Oh well. Thanks for your support. :)**

**KaraLea: Thank you. I'm afraid that you've entered during a sort of hectic time with this story, but I'll try to get everything done as soon as possible. Thanks again for the review! XD**

**Wow, I'm surprised. No flames yet. I was thinking that everyone would be saying something along the lines of: "This is a piece of crap." or "You must be the worst writer I've ever read from.", by the end of the third chapter. I must say that I'm happy I haven't. Maybe I'm a better writer than I thought. Or maybe everyone here has read some pretty bad writing. I think it's the latter of the two. Anyway, Chapter Ten will be out on.. October 8th. Yep, it's a Saturday. Okey dokey then?**

**C U wHeneVa, Kyogera**


	10. Oh Goody, Detention!

**Disclaimer: I don't own it, okay! Just don't sue meeeeeeee!**

**A/N: You know what I hate? I hate that you can't use the asterisk to signify an action on fanfiction. That just really stinks. So instead, I'll use parentheses, like I was doing in the last A/N. Okay, here we go. The real A/N:**

**(Jaw drops). Holy $#&! How on earth did I get that many reviews? Well, it's awesome, got me more motivated to write. Thank you all!**

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**Delayed Start: 10. Oh goody, Detention!**

"We, we were-" Aileen started, but Umbridge cut her off.

"The two of you were out of bed, that's what you were doing." she sneered. The fat around her jaw began to wiggle in anger, which would have been funny if they weren't in such big trouble. "You two have detention with me tomorrow night. Be in my office at 7pm sharp."

Harry's eyes widened. "Wait, it was all me, she didn't do anything! I made her come out here. So please just punish me, not her."

"Wha-" Aileen started, but Harry put his arm up to silence her.

Umbridge looked at him for a minute, and then sneered. "No."

"But, but-"

"I SAID NO!" she screamed. "GET TO BED NOW!"

It didn't take a second longer for them to shoot up to the common room.

"Lemurs." Harry breathlessly said to the fat lady and she swung open. They both ran inside and the portrait slammed shut behind them, making them jump.

Once they got settled, Aileen faced Harry. "Why were you saying that? It's just detention. I'm okay. And _I _should have been the only one to get detention, not you. It was MY idea, not yours."

"I know." he said quietly, looking down. "But a detention with Umbridge isn't "just detention". It's torture." he rubbed his right hand subconsciously, and Aileen noticed a red mark that looked almost as if writing was there. But before she could say anything, he turned away from her. "You should get to bed now, you will be up late tomorrow night. I know that."

Aileen silently went to her dorm and jumped into bed right after scribbling a last few sentences onto her DADA essay.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

The Umbridge Detention

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Aileen walked into Umbridge's office, which was just as meticulously clean as her classroom. Charlie shifted in her pocket. He didn't want to be in there, but Umbridge hated him, so it was safer for him to be there. Harry was already sitting at a desk covered with blank paper. She took a seat next to him at another desk also covered in paper.

A door in the corner of the room slammed open and Umbridge walked in. She handed each of them a quill. "Use these to write 'I will not leave bed at night' 500 times. You have plenty of paper in front of you; there should be no problem of space. Begin."

Aileen looked for ink, but there was none. "Professor Umbridge, there's no ink."

"There's no need for it." she sneered. "Just begin writing. I will be in the other room." she turned around and went through the door she had come in, slamming it just as loudly as before.

Aileen didn't get it, but just sat down. She picked up the quill and began writing on the page. The same instant she saw the blood red ink, pain shot through her hand. A cut shaped like an "I" was etched into the back of it, matching what she had written on the paper. She looked over to Harry, who was writing quickly. The same mark was in his hand, but it read the entire sentence. Each second he wrote, the deeper the cut went.

"Is this what you meant by torture, Harry?" she asked, fearing the answer.

"Yes." he didn't even pause, and just wrote as fast as he could to avoid the pain. Aileen turned away from him and kept writing. The pain was terrible, and within a few minutes her eyes stung with tears.

"I can't do this." she said, putting down the quill.

"You have to, she won't let you leave until you do." he replied, still not stopping.

"But I just can't, it hurts too much."

"Just talk to me to keep you mind off of the pain. That might help."

She struggled to think of something to talk about while looking absently at the bloody quill on her desk. Suddenly she remembered.

"Harry, who exactly tried to kill you, and why?" she asked, looking over to him.

He stopped writing. She could see his knuckles glow white as he squeezed the quill in his hands. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked-" she began, but was cut off.

"No." he sighed, and began writing again. "It's okay. I'll tell you."

"Okay." Aileen picked up the quill and began writing again as Harry talked to her.

"When I was a baby, there was an evil wizard called Voldemort. He tried to kill me because of a prophecy that said I might kill him if I lived."

"Well, you're alive, so he must have failed."

"Yes. He killed my parents, but for some reason he couldn't kill me. I am the only person that has ever survived his killing curse. Dumbledore said it was the love my Mother felt for me that saved me."

"Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry. I didn't know it happened like that."

"No, it's okay. Anyway, after failing to kill me, he lost most of his strength and wasn't heard from until a while ago, when he tried to kill me again. Obviously it didn't work, but he's kept on trying."

"I see."

"Well, that's pretty much it."

"Okay. Thank you for telling me."

They silently finished the painful task of writing the sentences and watched as Umbridge counted them.

"You may go. I better not catch you out of bed again, or it will be 1000 times. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Harry and Aileen said in unison, looking down.

"Okay. Get out of here."

They left, and walked back to the common room. That night in bed, Aileen looked up at the ceiling thinking about what Harry told her.

_"Can't sleep?"_ Charlie whispered to her.

_"No."_

_"Is it what I think it is?"_

_"Yes." _When Charlie didn't reply, she continued. _"I didn't know he went through all that. I didn't see.."_

Charlie didn't say anything. He knew his only job right then was to listen to what she was saying.

_"So that's why he's some kind of wizard celebrity. He didn't die, while his parents did. What a terrible thing to be famous for." _She fell silent. Charlie looked at her, but her eyes were closed in a fitful sleep. He curled up above her head on her pillow and fell asleep as well, hoping that she would feel better in the morning.

Aileen woke up the next morning with the realization that Hogsemede was just a few days away. With that thought, she got an idea; an idea that would definitely make Harry happy.

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**A/N: Ooh, Hogsemede. Remember the last trip? This should be at least that exciting. Hehe. Anyway, after seeing all of the reviews I got, I've realized that I'm in trouble if this keeps up. I won't be able to reply to each one. However, I'll try my best. So here it goes: (takes big breath)**

**Maliaphire: The day before your birthday? Well happy early birthday! I don't mind bad reviews; it helps my writing. But I still like nice ones better. LOL.  
Seekergirl70: Wow, thank you! That's so sweet of you. :)  
Sir Fuzzalot: Thank you. Yes, I admit, I have been a bit lazy with detailing things. I'll try to improve on that area. It's just so hard when you're trying to avoid run-ons! P.S. As my friend would say: "BUNNIES!" XD.  
littleblackdove: She isn't going with Harry! Yes, they have a very close relationship, but that will come into play more in the sequel to Delayed Start (yes there should be a sequel, if all goes well). Don't worry, when you find out who the particular person is, you will know them as well as Harry, possibly even better.  
EvangelicShadowStrike: Okay, when Aileen was called, all of the first years had already been sorted. I wanted to make her separate. It signifies the importance of the chapter, in my mind anyway. Also, why do people keep on asking me this! I always thought the name "Kyogera" would sound girly. That was the point. But I guess it's good that my writing style doesn't lean much either way. That means it's more enjoyable... I think. LOL. Oh-and yeah, I guess it could be funny. But it would prove to be a possible danger if anyone actually DID dress up as a Dementor. I mean, how would poor Harry feel? He's been up and close with them!  
Dracos-naughty-lil-girl: You talking about Umbridge? Or Aileen? I'm confused. Oh- and thanks for the compliment.  
noumerta: Thanks! -and Thanks again! haha. Will do, as you can see.  
Lana: I sure hope it does! Thanks a lot!  
Wilwarin Bluemoon: Actually, that's still a valid question, about the snakes. On that front, I decided to look at it form her point of view. If you were five or six, and you could talk to a certain animal, even if it was a snake, don't you think that it would probably be cool? I do. Also, I remembered Harry's first encounter with that Boa. He was surprised, but not afraid. He was older than Aileen at that time too. So I thought of it that way. And for the last time, Harry and Ai aren't getting together! (sighs)  
Wildphire: (scrolls up and down too) oh, did you read the first A/N? That explained the jump. If you did, however, maybe you actually DID miss a chapter. Hehe.  
****KAM! (a.k.a. Swordmasterk14): you did tell me on AIM! And now you're yelling at me because I have more reviews than you! Whose side are you on, anyway? Yours or mine? LOL.  
grace: Thankies!  
Caitlyn: Thanks! Nope, she doesn't know yet. Not exactly sure how I'll put that in... Oh, Happy Belated Birthday! Lots of birthdays lately, huh? How long? Well, I'm not sure. Originally, it was supposed to be 30-or-so chapters, but with the new plot, I'm not sure. Could be more or less. I should have a more accurate idea of the length though relatively soon. P.S. Hey that's mean! WAAAAA! JK, LOL.  
girl.in.well: you're in a well... with a computer... couldn't you get electrocuted? hmm. Anyway, thanks. Oh, and I'll let you know if I see any figure skating stories. Not sure how I'd find one on here, though.  
Sever13: thank you for that horrible review. JK. Aileen got in quite some trouble, as you can see. I really hope with all my heart that Halloween comes out well. I'm working really hard to get this new plot to smooth out. I would love a sarcastic talking snake as well (LOL), but my dog would probably eat him, even if I COULD talk to it. Alas, I have nothing else to say.**

**One.. two... three... what's after three? Wow, that's a lot of reviews, at least to me. Thank you all again! So the Hogsemede trip should be on October...22. Getting close to Halloween!**

**Till then, all ye readers and reviewers, be at peace! . >.>**

**I have no clue... Kyogera  
**


	11. Hogsemede Hijinks

**Disclaimer: Stupid disclaimers, they think that they're just too good for anyone. Well, what I have to say to THAT is: (falls asleep)**

**A/N: Okaaaaay now. I am SO tired right now, and it's in the middle of the day! But I'll keep on writing for all you readers.**

**

* * *

**

**Delayed Start: 11. Hogsemede Hijinks**

"Come ON guys!" cried Aileen to the famous trio. "We'll miss the carriage into Hogsemede!" Aileen had worked on making sure that today was going to be really fun; not only for Harry, but for the rest of them as well. It wasn't easy, but she put together some surprises for them that would make it a total blast.

"Yeah, yeah, we're coming," grumbled Ron, still half asleep. None of the others had a clue as to what she had planned **(A/N: Neither do I. No, seriously, I'm totally making this one up as I go. Go me.)**

Aileen opened the carriage door for them, pretending to act like a butler. "Welcome to your carriage, sirs and madams. I do hope you enjoy your ride," she said, doing one of her perfect imitations of a rich servant. She bowed deeply as they walked inside, and then hopped in herself, landing next to Hermione and across from Harry. Ron was in the corner, and he had fallen--quite loudly--asleep.

Aileen suddenly changed her role again and started to act like a snobby old lady. "Oh how rude, what a brute!" she cried, looking at Ron and waving a Chinese fan she had just conjured out of midair.

Ron opened one eye and snuffed at her. She waved back to him with a big grin on her face. He groaned and went back to sleep.

"Wow," said Hermione, noticing her excitement. "You have some energy today."

"Yeah, it's just Hogsemede," put in Harry. "You've been there before."

"I know that, silly." Aileen said, still smiling widely. "I just have some... _preparations_ that I made, and I'm happy about it."

"You're not gonna have Charlie attack Malfoy again, are you?" Hermione asked, looking at her skeptically.

"No!" Aileen grabbed Charlie off of her neck and squeezed him tightly to herself in a big hug, which made him squirm. "I would NEVER do that to him again! He could get hurt!"

"It looks like your hurting him right now," put in Harry, while nodding to the snake in her arms. She quickly let him go and he slithered into her pocket.

_"I'm going to get my nap _here_ now,"_ he grumbled. _"Please no interruptions until we get there, okay?"_

_"Fine."_ Aileen pouted to her little pet.

The carriage set off, and they were pulled through the countryside. Eventually, they spotted a speck off in the distance - otherwise known as Hogsemede. **(A/N: This may be redundant, but I still have no clue what I'm going to do! Help! Wait, once you read this, it will have been figured out. Totally ignore this then.)**

A few minutes later, the carriage stopped behind all the others and the group hopped (and got dragged, in Ron's case) out. Suddenly, Aileen started to run off towards the shops.

"Let's go! Let's go!" she cried, glancing behind her to make sure that they were following before she turned around again to keep on running.

"Wait up!" Harry cried, starting to run out of breath. _How was she able to run that fast?_ He wondered, before having to stop at the request of a stitch in his side.

Hermione ran up beside him, followed by Ron. "You okay?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, but I lost Aileen. I can't believe that she's so-"

"Uh, Harry? Hermione?" asked Ron, sounding a bit scared.

"Yeah, what's the mat-" Harry turned around, and gaped. There just happened to be a floating pumpkin behind them. It also happened to be wielding a sword. **(A/N: (suddenly realizes that this is going to be one weird chapter))**

_"Petrificus Totalus!"_ Hermione shouted. A gray beam shot out of her wand at the pumpkin. It easily dodged the spell, and turned back to them, now snarling angrily.

"I think we should take that as a sign to run!" Ron shouted, speeding past Harry and Hermione. They looked at each other for a second, letting their minds digest what just happened.

"Wait a minute!" They cried in unison. "Ron, you jerk!" They scampered off the ground and started to run after him, the pumpkin floating behind them.

"What's going on?" Harry cried, looking around. "Why aren't the people noticing anything!" It was true. Witches and Wizards alike were just going along on their business, completely ignoring the menacing pumpkin head and its sword. It was like they didn't see it at all.

"This way!" cried Hermione, slipping into an alley. Harry followed her. The pumpkin seemed to not notice that they left and flew on past their hiding spot.

"Do you have any idea what the hell is going on?" asked Harry, breathless.

"Well," said Hermione, panting, "It seemed like nobody noticed it was chasing us. Or even that it was _there_, for that matter."

"Yeah, I noticed that too. What could cause it?"

"Well," she said, "It almost seems like there's a spell on it."

"What do you mean? Like Voldemort put a spell on it or something?"

"Do you think he'd send a _pumpkin_ after us?"

"Umm, not really."

"Of course not! Personally, I think it's all-" she paused, staring past him. Harry followed her gaze and looked right up at a sword pointing towards him.

"Surprise, surprise," said a dry, raspy voice, obviously the pumpkin. "Wanna play tag?" it swung the sword in midair, cutting off a piece of Harry's hair.

Harry and Hermione promptly screamed and flew out of the alley, with Mr. Pumpkin head on their trail.

"What were you saying?" Harry yelled at Hermione while running.

"I think that this pumpkin isn't here to hurt us at all, just to-" Hermione started, getting cut off yet again as she ran into Malfoy, knocking him over.

"What the hell are you doing, you filthy mudblood!" he hollered at her, while pushing her off.

"Pumpkin chasing us - sword - scary - bad voice," they jumbled together all at once, making Malfoy angrier.

"WHAT!" he screamed.

"There's a pumpkin head with a sword chasing us! Look!" They pointed to the pumpkin, which was catching up to them now that they weren't running.

"I don't see a thing! What the hell are you trying to do to me!" he hollered. To him, it looked like they were pointing at thin air.

"There! There!" Hermione shook Draco and pointed, yet again, to the pumpkin and its swinging sword.

"There isn't anything there!" he angrily pushed Hermione's hands off of his shoulders and stomped away, leaving them alone with the semi-invisible monster-thing.

"No!" Hermione cried, holding up her wand. "I won't run anymore! I'll get him this time for sure! _Scou-"_

_"Stupefy!"_ A colorful beam shot out from somewhere behind the pumpkin and hit it, making it fly through the air and hit the ground with a lifeless thump. It rolled for a few yards before stopping at Harry's feet. Both Harry and Hermione had no idea what to do.

Suddenly Ron ran out from behind a cart, wand in hand.

"I got him! I got him!" he cried, pointing at the pumpkin. That was true, he got the pumpkin. However, the sword was as lively as ever.

_'sliss_' The sword swiped through the air, then spun around to point at Ron.

_"Incendio!"_ Hermione finally got a full word out, sending the fiery red spell straight at the sword.

Sadly, it never hit the sword. It hit something before that. Something invisible. Something that managed to yelp at the heat and accidentally drop an invisibility cloak. Something that wasn't a thing - it was a girl. A girl that just happened to have a snake wrapped around her neck.

"Aileen!" everyone cried at once, making her eyes open wide.

"Oops," she whispered. "That wasn't supposed to happen."

"What on earth!"

"Why did you do that?"

"Were you trying to _kill_ us? I thought that you were our friend!"

"Guys, stop!" Aileen cried. "It wasn't supposed to happen like this! Believe me! Please!"

"Fine," said Harry, angrily. "I'll give you one minute to explain yourself."

"Okay," started Aileen, taking a big breath, "This whole thing was meant as a big Halloween joke. I was never going to hurt you. I would never do that. What was _supposed_ to happen would have been honestly funny. I was going to chase you around, which I did, scaring you out of your wits. Eventually, I would have chased you right back into the carriages, then follow you inside. Once there, I was gonna take off this stupid disguise, yell surprise, and give you the candy I bought for you guys!" she said, gasping.

"Can you prove that?" Ron asked.

"Yes!" she cried, pulling out three bags full of candy. "See?"

"You- you _were_ telling the truth? But how did you get an invisibility cloak? And why was it that only WE could see you?" asked Harry.

"Well, the invisibility cloak is yours," she said, pointing to the charred fabric. "Don't worry, I'll fix it later," she said to Harry's pained look. "The fact that only you guys could see me - well that was a spell. I cast a reflective spell then un-cast you guys when you weren't looking. You were the only ones who could see me since we stepped out of the carriage."

"So that's why you ran from us? To get the costume together? And HOW did you get my cloak?"

"Yep. Oh, you left it on the couch in the common room a few days ago. I just snatched it up."

Harry sighed, and then looked back at Aileen. "Hey," he asked, "Can we still have that candy?"

* * *

**A/N: That was the WEIRDEST THING I EVER WROTE. I did NOT expect it to come out like this. But I must say, It was SO much fun to make Harry and the gang so OOC and to take a break from the main story. The next chapter will get right back into it, I promise. **

**Caitlyn: Well, thank you. I appreciate it. :)  
****Swordmasterk14: Wake up (hits Kam). That review made no sense. The chapter portion of it was just as long as all of the other chapters; I made sure of that. This one should make you a little happier, though. A bit longer than normal.  
****EvangelicShadowStrike: This is year five. Umbridge is in the books in year five. Besides, she adds an extra element to the story that Snape just can't give. Oh - and thanks!  
****Wildphire: Your welcome. Here you go, fresh off the oven (well not really). LOL.  
****littleblackdove: Honestly, you won't actually really know the guy that well until... Sometime after Aileen's birthday, which is a few months after Christmas. No need to worry, it'll all come together.  
****Steph: The pairing is Aileen (oc) x unknownasofnow. This story is a bit different, as you won't know who the pairing is until... Maybe three chapters from the ending? Even then, it won't be official until the last chapter. I like making readers wonder. Heehee. :)  
****colorfree: Yeah, they probably would in the books, but as you said, my story. I can go totally OOC with pumpkin head madness or stick to the books, and I like the first choice better. LOL :)  
****Wolf: Yeah, I know him. Or should I say I know OF him, I don't know him personally. That's pretty interesting. Although there's been a lot of Harry mania in these past few chapters, he isn't what this story is about. It's all Aileen. Well, thanks. I'll try to keep updating on time.  
****Sir Fuzzalot: It's rare that an author gets a reviewer that's more helpful than an English book- and you are. This isn't sarcastic, or a joke, you really have helped me these past couple of chapters. I honestly want to thank you. So thank you. Thank you so much. :) (Gives Mr. Nice Reviewer virtual cookie)**

**Okay, I've decided to make a change about what day the story comes out. Now it's going to be on Sundays. That way, I have all of Saturday to edit more for all you guys. Okay?**

**C u guys Sunday the... Sixth. The sixth of November.**

**Kyogera  
**


	12. Brain Troubles

**Disclaimer: I finally understand what that word means. You need to DIS the CLAIMER. So how should I dis JK?**

**A/N: Well, I guess some of you liked that last chapter, and some... Didn't. Well, this is getting back into the story for y'all. **

* * *

**Delayed Start: 12. The Idea**

"So, Aileen, what are you going to wear for Halloween?"

"Huh?" Aileen replied, falling out of her trance.

"What are you going to wear for Halloween?" Hermione repeated, resting her head on her arms.

"Oh-I... Don't know yet. Why? It's still a ways off, right?"

"Are you kidding? The party's in two days!"

"What?" Aileen bolted out of bed, and ran over to her calendar. Sure enough, there was a shiny red 'X' on every single day before the 29th. "Oh, man," Aileen groaned, "I have no clue!" She rubbed her temples in frustration.

"I'll help you think of something, don't worry."

"No, no. I can't have you do that. Every year, I always think of something off the wall to dress up as, all by myself. I can't change it now, it's like a tradition to me," Aileen said, looking over towards Hermione.

"Well, try to think of something quickly, okay?"

"Well, duh, obviously I'm going to do that. Who do you think I am?"

"A maniac, of course."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

The Next Morning

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

_"Charlie, give me some ideas."_

_"But I thought you told Hermione that you got your ideas all by yourself,"_ said Charlie as he wrapped himself around Aileen's arm. It was Sunday, so there weren't any classes. Hermione was at the library as usual, Harry and Ron were out practicing Quiddich, and everyone else just seemed to have disappeared.

_"But I'm having too much trouble! I can't think of a thing!"_ Aileen pulled Charlie off of her arm and held him in the air. _"Help me, please."_

_"Put me down, 'please'."_

_"Say you'll help me."_

_"Say you'll put me down."_

_"Charlie!"_

_"Aileen!"_

_"Fine. Thanks for the help."_ Aileen dropped Charlie, and he fell onto the couch.

_"Hey, didn't you ever hear of being gentle?" _Charlie groaned while shaking his head.

_"Oh, I'll show you gentle." _Aileen pulled out her wand.

_"Ah-never mind. I feel fine! See?"_ Charlie shook his tail at Aileen to prove his point.

Aileen sighed, and put her wand away. _"It's just difficult. I never have this much trouble thinking of something good!"_

_"Well, lets walk around. Maybe you can see something."_

_"I guess."_ Aileen looked downwards, frowning.

_"That's the spirit! Now pick me up and lets get out of here."_

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

_"How about a ghost?"_ Charlie asked as they passed Nearly Headless Nick.

_"Nope, transparency spell is way too dangerous. Could become invisible forever."_

_"So," _Charlie sniped.

_"Charlie!"_

_"Just kidding, sheesh. How about... a trashcan?"_

_"A trashcan."_

_"Yeah, you know, the stuff you put trash in."_

_"I know what it is, dummy. You didn't need to tell me that."_

_"So you like the idea?" _

_"NO, I do NOT like that idea-" _Aileen was cut off as she turned the corner and ran smack into Malfoy.

"What in bloody hell do you think you're doing?" He growled after getting off of the floor.

"I'm walking around the school, what are _you_ doing?" she snapped back.

"I'm going back to my common room, not like it's any of your business, you filthy mudblood."

"What?" Aileen glowered at him and pulled out her wand.

_"Filthy Mudblood,"_ he sneered, drawing out his own wand.

_"Incendio!_" A red stream of fire flew out of Aileen's wand and narrowly missed Malfoy.

_"Petrificus Totalus!"_ he whipped back at her. It hit her right arm and she dropped her wand, which skittered off in front of her.

"_Accio wand!"_ Aileen called out, lifting her left arm. The wand flew towards her, and she snatched it out of the air.

"What, you think you can beat me using your left hand? Don't make me laugh." Draco lifted his own arm towards her. _"Confundus!" _

Aileen slammed backward into the wall, stunned. She raised her wand, but couldn't think of a spell. Once one finally arose into her mind, she screamed it out before thinking of what she was doing. _"Avis!"_ A flock of birds appeared out of nowhere and blocked Malfoy's view of Aileen just long enough for her to regain her composure.

"_Immobulus!"_ From the grunt she heard, she knew that she had hit him. The flock of birds flew off, and she could see him struggling to move. "What was that about me not being able to beat you?" She grinned, moving towards him.

Malfoy smirked. _"Accio vase!"_

Aileen spun around just in time to see a vase heading straight towards her head, right before she blacked out.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X **(A/N: I was going to stop there, but that wouldn't have been very nice of me. Way too short.)**

"Aileen!" a voice cried out.

"Aileen, where are you?" a second, deeper voice shouted.

Aileen slowly regained consciousness to hear another shout.

"Aileen!"

"I'm over here!" Aileen called back. Her throat was dry and she couldn't see a thing. "I'm here guys!" She began to feel around only to find a wall on all four sides of her. "Help!" she cried.

"We're coming, just one minute Aileen!" She heard footsteps coming close to her.

_"Alohamora!"_ There was a click and one of the walls opened up to reveal Hermione putting away her wand. Harry helped her out of the closet, and wiped some of the dirt off of her robe for her.

"What happened?" Ron asked; steadying her after Harry let go.

"I got into a fight with Malfoy. He got me with a vase when I wasn't expecting it." she stumbled forward and Harry caught her. "Thanks. Ugh, my head kills."

"You should see Madam Pomfrey and get that checked out." Hermione said to her, looking concerned.

Harry looked angry. "Malfoy will pay for this," he growled under his breath.

Aileen stopped him. "Harry, you'll get in trouble. Don't."

"You're sounding too much like Hermione." Harry replied as Hermione humphed.

"Let's just get her to the Hospital wing, she looks like she really got hit hard."

"Yes, lets." They helped Aileen walk slowly to the Hospital wing. She stumbled a few times, but other than that didn't have any trouble.

Madam Pomfrey looked her over for a few minutes. "She's fine," she said after her checkup was done. "She'll have a nasty headache for a while, but there's no real bad damage. You should consider yourself lucky, Aileen. That could have caused major head trauma, but it didn't."

"Thank you." Aileen smiled. "Can I go back now?"

"Yes, of course. Just watch your head from now on, okay?"

"Okay, I'll try." She nodded, and then left with the trio, feeling much better.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Back in the Common Room

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Are you sure you're okay?" Hermione asked, as Aileen shook her head to relieve her dizziness.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But I need a shower. I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Okay, see you." Hermione said, as Harry and Ron waved to her in their game of chess.

Aileen stepped out of the shower a while later, feeling much more refreshed. "Ah," she said to herself, "Much better." She rubbed her hair to get rid of the excess water, and then brushed it back with a comb in front of her mirror.

_Stupid Malfoy_, she thought, glaring at the mirror. _What a jerk. I didn't realize that he would go that low, as to lock me in a closet. Grar!_ She punched the wall next to the mirror, and then looked up at her angry reflection. _That's kind of weird, I almost look like him when I'm like this. The only real difference is the hair, eye, and skin color. And all that gel he uses, of course._ Aileen's eyes widened.

"That's it," she whispered. "That's it!" She grinned. "I finally have it!" She quickly brushed out her short hair and pulled on some clothes.

Aileen whipped into the dorm a few minutes later. _"Charlie! I figured it out! I know what I'm going as for Halloween!"_

* * *

**A/N: I've been thinking a lot lately, about the story. Every time I look at it, it seems to be worse and worse. I personally might just need to take a break from writing for a while. I'm not sure yet. Well, anyway, the reviews.**

**Wildphire: I'd eat the Pumpkin Pie if I could... Ah well.  
littleblackdove: Sorry. I know that was kind of bad. I've been having a lot of trouble with this lately. (sigh)  
Swordmasterk14: Nice try. I'm not telling you. You're going to have to wait just like everyone else.  
Caitlyn: What's that supposed to mean? What does it depend on? O.o Anyways, thanks.  
Sir Fuzzalot: I'm guessing you meant 6,000 wpc. Well, that's like impossible for me. 2k max. I can't do more than that. That in itself is really difficult. Putting it on a different website is an interesting idea, I might just do that. :)  
Wilwarin Bluemoon: Thanks! Wow, I never thought of that. That might just end up happening in the future, not sure when. Hmmmmm... Pumpkins are awesome.  
Dracos-naughty-lil-girl: Yeah, I know. But I needed to do it. Well, actually, I just wanted to do it. Heh. Yeah...**

**I don't know, I might take a month off or something. I don't know. Depends on what happens in the next couple of weeks. **

**Kyogera**


	13. Delayed Start Notice

**DELAYED START NOTICE**

**

* * *

**

Well, I know that this has been a bit-I mean, a lot-over a month, but I have my reasons, and I also have my reasons for not telling you them. In short, I'm not going to get back to the story for a while. **PLEASE UNDERSTAND, IT IS NOT BEING STOPPED**. It WILL be a while though. So please bear with me through this, I hope to get back to it soon. Thanks.

Kyogera


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